


A Boy in White, A Boy in Black, A Lady in Red

by sagansjagger



Series: It's the End of the World As We Know It [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Character Death, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:08:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25325890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sagansjagger/pseuds/sagansjagger
Summary: The end of the world is lonely, Chat realized long ago.Chat Blanc has been alone for months. Maybe even years; he can't tell time anymore.But then, he gets a visitor, a rabbit-eared redhead with the power to change his life...
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: It's the End of the World As We Know It [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1835440
Comments: 44
Kudos: 95





	A Boy in White, A Boy in Black, A Lady in Red

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BubblegumLeather](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BubblegumLeather/gifts).



> Based on a prompt by StrangeLace (Ao3: BubblegumLeather) on our Discord server, Miraculous Fanworks! Link to the server in the end notes.
> 
> \---
> 
> This fic now has a sequel: [Pawsome](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25344901). Warnings for animal abuse in the sequel.
> 
> Thanks for reading!

"Little kitty on a roof, all alone without his Lady!" Chat Blanc, sitting on the Eiffel Tower, sang loudly enough to hopefully wake the dead.

He didn't know what time it was. He never knew, outside of the very basics of sunrise, sunset, and night. He didn't need sleep, being akumatized, but he tried to catch a few winks every evening regardless. 

He had to stick to his schedule, or he'd go even more insane. Nathalie always had Adrien running around on a strict timetable, and though it took Chat Blanc a full month--or what he thought was a full month, could have been longer--to figure out how to make plans, he thought the schedule helpful. He was constantly tweaking it, giving him something to do.

First was swimming down to say hello to Ladybug and sneer at Gabriel. That took as long as Chat wanted it to. Sometimes he could spend what felt like hours down in the deep, talking to her through his rebreather. He'd tell her all his plans for the day and that he missed her terribly and that he was sorry, sorry, sorry. He'd sing to her, and tell her that he should have told her his identity right up front, and that she was still beautiful even made of ash.

He never told her that he loved her. Though he often heard her reproaching him, that was one thing she never said, and he couldn't bear not hearing it back.

Chat Blanc had plenty of heated conversations with Gabriel, too. He screamed at the man every day, mostly why, why, why, but also I hate you. You hurt me. How dare you. Chat never spoke to Gabriel for long; while white-hot rage killed plenty of time, he didn't like to hear his father trying to defend himself in Chat's head. And the man never said sorry, so Chat was tired.

Chat was so, so tired. Despite not needing sleep, Chat was bone weary. His exhaustion oozed from every pore. He slouched when he sat, darkly amused at his bad posture. He'd never be a model again, which he was almost glad over. He was sad he'd killed Vincent, but shed no tears over Lila.

Gosh, he missed Plagg. Plagg would have kept him company at the end of the world, if Chat could detransform. He didn’t hear Plagg in his head, probably because Chat hadn’t seen an ash statue of his friend. Chat Blanc was grateful he’d never destroyed the mini-god--and Chat often idly wondered if he could have--but knew Plagg must be exhausted from holding the transformation for so long. 

After his morning swim, Chat would pretend to have lunch. He didn't need to eat while akumatized--and all the food was underwater anyway--but he missed eating. Marinette used to make him passion-fruit macarons, and the sweet flavors would explode on his tongue. 

He pretended to eat different meals every day, all the foods he couldn't eat on his model diet--pizza, spaghetti, other simple carbs--but he always finished the meal with a macaron. He was terrified of forgetting the flavor. He had already forgotten the texture, and the feeling of solid food sliding down his throat.

After lunch, Chat would make a clawmark on an exposed, rusty part of the Eiffel Tower. He couldn't remember when he'd started tracking the days, and couldn't focus enough to count them properly, so the marks were useless. But he made them anyway, because they were part of his schedule. 

Next on his to-do list was floating face up in the water. Sometimes he'd change this up and float face down, peering down at the dead Parisians frozen in time as they walked along the street. He'd poked a little girl, once, wanting to feel a human touch. She'd dissolved, and he spent a long time freaking out because it felt like he'd really killed her, and if he ever touched Ladybug, he'd kill her, too.

But most of the time he floated supine, so he didn't have to worry about destroying Parisians for a second time. One time he fell asleep and sank like a stone, waking up sputtering and coughing. Apparently he did still need to breathe while akumatized. That was good to know.

After floating for however long, Chat would go for a run. Well, sort of a run. He'd get some exercise, anyway, darting back and forth on all fours along the Tower's girders. He had to burn off all the calories from his pretend meal, after all. He was a model. 

Then there was the post-run workout. He'd do crunches and sit-ups and push-ups until even the super suit couldn't keep him from panting and his muscles from trembling. Chat would work up a sweat--another thing he still did while akumatized, much to his amusement--even though the suit was climate controlled and tried to regulate his temperature.

Then he’d cool off with another floating session and an attempt at a nap.

He’d pretend to have dinner--followed by a dessert of Ladybug-themed ice cream and a macaron--and then he’d caterwaul on top of the Eiffel Tower until he was too tired of singing. By that point, the sun would usually start setting, the orange glow making the water look like it burned.

But he had to use his voice, or he’d lose it--both the ability to speak and his sanity. He sang showtunes, he sang anime theme songs, he sang songs of his own devising. Sometimes he sang softly, and sometimes his voice rasped across his lips in a frantic shout, tearing up his throat as it exited. Most times, he’d start out loud, and then go quiet once he was no longer able--physically or mentally--to scream into the void. 

He was singing his own song--Little Kitty on a Roof--when a strange noise twigged his feline ears. Chat stilled, every muscle instantly tense. There were no noises at the end of the world except for the lapping of the water against the buildings or his own voice. That he heard a noise meant… someone was here. Maybe.

He scrambled to his feet and whirled, seeing a couple of white bunny ears on a red-haired head poking out of a glowing portal. It was… It was… He couldn’t remember her name.

Chat Blanc crouched, preparing to call for a mega-Cataclysm if she became hostile. But he was so relieved to see someone, so incredibly happy that she--unless… She was a hallucination. He’d had those sometimes, mostly of Marinette. Though why he’d hallucinate this person, whose name he couldn’t even remember, he had no idea.

“Kitty!” the bunny woman said, stepping through the portal, an umbrella slung over her shoulder. “Long time no see? I think, anyway…” She tapped her chin and stepped towards him. He held his ground, despite simultaneously wanting to shy away and touch her.

“Who are you?” he demanded, his voice a gravelly growl. “What are you doing here?” He didn’t want to take his eyes off her, but his gaze flicked involuntarily to his feet. “Are you… a hallucination?”

“Rude,” she said, striding up to him. She reached out, and he flinched. She pinched his cheek between her fingers, roughly, and he cried out. She let go and drew her hand back. “Did that hurt?”

Rubbing his cheek resentfully, he nodded. “So you’re not a hallucination. Who _are_ you?”

“The name’s Bunnyx,” she said, laughing at him. “I can’t believe you don’t remember me.”

“Bunnyx…” Memories came flooding back to his confused brain. He’d beaten an akuma--was that what they were called?--named… named… something to do with time. And his Lady had been there, which he recalled clearly. But had she known who he was at that point? Chat couldn’t remember.

But he did remember Bunnyx. She traveled through time, using her portal.

Time… 

He pointed at the portal. “Does that go back to the past?”

“Past, future, whenever,” Bunnyx said, shrugging casually. She tapped her umbrella on her shoulder. “Finally remember, Kitty?”

Chat Blanc knew what he had to do. He immediately summoned his power, forming a white ball of destruction in between his fingers and launching it at her feet. Her eyes widened as the section of the Tower beneath her crumpled, and she screamed as she fell. 

Chat didn’t wait to watch her splash down into the water below. He bolted for the portal and dove inside. “It’s bigger on the inside,” he said to no one. Frantically, he began touching portal after portal, searching for one that could let him go back to the past and fix things. 

He could see his Lady again! He could say hello and tell her that he was sorry and embrace her and run his white claws through her hair and inhale the scent of her skin. His mouth watered; he’d forgotten what she smelled like long ago, and he wanted to experience her unique bouquet again more than anything else in the world.

Finally, he found a portal that looked like it led to Paris, the city of love before he’d destroyed it. The lack of water surrounding the Tower made vicious tears spring to his eyes. He took a step back, psyching himself up, and darted through the portal.

He landed on his feet next to the Louvre. The noises of the city slammed into his ears, making him wince; the scents of car exhaust and people and bread flooded his nose, making him sneeze. He couldn’t smell water anywhere. He squinted in the moonlight. 

This… was not where he wanted to be. He wanted to be at the bakery, with Marinette, and now he’d have to cross the entire city to get there. He reached for his baton, but was stopped when a purple butterfly mask snapped into place over his eyes.

“Who… are you?” the voice he’d heard so often in his head said, and Chat bared his teeth in a snarl. 

“Your worst nightmare,” Chat said, dropping into a crouch. “The name’s Chat Blanc, and you know where to find me, _Gabriel_.”

Chat changed his plans immediately. He couldn’t go to the bakery yet. He had to take care of something. 

***

Seeing his mother suspended in a cryopod hurt Chat Blanc just as much as it did the first time. Her face looked peaceful in repose, and her hair pillowed around her in a smooth cloud. Her hands were folded over her waist, and thankfully, she still wore her silver, Graham de Vanily wedding ring.

“How could you?” Chat whispered, angry tears spilling over his mask. “How could you, Father?”

Chat Blanc had Cataclysmed a hole into the basement of the Agreste manor. It was only a matter of time before the owner of the house showed up to meet him, which was what Chat wanted.

He wanted to ask his father why, and get an answer that wasn’t from Chat Blanc’s own twisted head. He wanted the man to apologize. He wanted… He didn’t know what he wanted, but he knew that this confrontation had to happen.

The scents of the plants soothed him. It had been so long since he’d smelled green and growing things, and the aroma of soil reminded him of Ladybug. If he weren’t crying already, he would be now. He could also smell water, which made him want to spit. He never wanted to smell water again.

Preparing to face his father, Chat Blanc listened to the quiet rush of flapping butterfly wings, the manor settling, and the plants creaking in the soft breeze. The air conditioning was cold on Chat’s exposed skin, and he shivered, despite the suit regulating his body temperature. 

A ding sounded in his feline ears. Chat’s shoulders stiffened. Hasty footsteps striking metal told him Gabriel had exited the elevator and was hurrying towards him on the ramp.

He turned, slowly, and took in the sight of Hawkmoth in all his glory, eyes widening at the very sight of Chat Blanc. Chat was shocked to see that the man had color to his face and his purple mask, and wasn’t merely made of black ash.

“Took you long enough,” Chat said, curling his lip.

“Chat Noir?” Hawkmoth--Gabriel--Hawkmoth said, his jaw dropping.

“I’m not Chat Noir anymore,” Chat said, flicking his bell. “I’m Chat Blanc.”

“Chat Blanc?”

“Oh, my gosh, could you be any more dense?” Chat snapped, lacing his fingers at the small of his back in an effort to control the clenching of his fists. He began to pace, prowling around in the little garden, his mother resting behind him. “Do you have anything to say for yourself except to repeat my name?”

“I don’t understand…”

Chat spat, stirring butterflies from their place on the grass. “You akumatized me,” he said, “ _Father._ ”

Hawkmoth had been reaching out to him, but the man stilled at the name. “Father?” he whispered, sucking a breath over his teeth. “Adrien?”

“I’m not Adrien,” Chat said, snarling. “I’m Chat Blanc.”

Hawkmoth pulled his hand back. “Of course,” he said, coolly professional. “And I control you.”

Chat laughed bitterly. “No, you don’t,” he said, glaring at the upstart supervillain who dared--who _dared_ \--to think he could control him. “Why’d you do it, Gabriel? Why’d you manipulate people into hurting her?”

“Her? Who do you--” 

“Ladybug, you fool!” Chat screamed, bringing his hands out in front of him to make a strangling motion. He drew quick breaths through his nose, trying to calm down. When he finally gathered his emotions back to himself, Chat scoffed. “You’re a fool, Gabriel.”

“Chat Blanc,” Hawkmoth said, pointing his cane in front of himself. “Help me, son. Give me your miraculous, and retrieve hers. We can save your mother. We can be a family again--”

“A family?” Chat roared, power flaring to life in his hands. “Who would ever want to make a family with someone like you?” Chat spat again. “You never paid attention to me! You wrapped yourself up in akumatizing the entire city to bring back the dead rather than spending time with those of us who were alive and needed you!”

Gabriel stepped back, raising his arm to protect his face. “Son,” he started, “I’m sor--”

“No!” An apology was what Chat wanted. Wasn’t it? Then why did it upset him so much to finally hear it? “You don’t mean it! You don’t mean it, you don’t mean it, you don’t mean it!” 

Gabriel took a step towards him, and Chat screamed. It was a guttural sound, ripped from his throat and growing more and more high-pitched. He thrust his hands forward and sent a ball of power careening towards his father. 

The white ball of lightning struck Gabriel in the chest and exploded outward, covering him in raw, destructive power and shattering the ramp below him. The walls cracked and groaned. The man turned into ash instantly, his mouth open in a rictus of pain. The ash statue crumpled into the water, dissolving.

Chat Blanc gripped his outstretched wrist. He panted, his breaths coming quick and fast. He choked on his own saliva--and grief. He’d really done it, now. All he’d wanted was to talk to his father, and instead, Chat had lost control of himself and killed him.

Again.

Chat gripped his head, tearing at his shock of white hair. He scrubbed his clawed hands over his face, desperately trying to remove the tears from his cheeks. He kept crying and kept crying and _kept crying_ , and he soon exhausted himself. He sat down in the garden, wrapping his arms around his knees and rocking back and forth. 

“What do I do, Mom?” he said, addressing the untouched casket. He’d thought he’d grown up, that he’d aged well during the time he’d spent alone. But in reality, he was just that same lonely little boy he’d always been before he was akumatized.

And that lonely little boy still existed in this timeline. He’d be horrified to know that a version of himself from the future had killed his father. 

“Go to Ladybug,” Emilie said, her voice ethereal and haunting. 

_Of course,_ Chat thought, raising his eyes to the hole in the ceiling, from where moonlight streamed down into the room. _Ladybug’s still alive. She can fix this._

“Good idea, Mom, good idea,” Chat Blanc said, brushing pretend lint off his white knees as he stood. He had grass stains on the backs of his thighs, but he didn’t mind. The green coloring was welcome, after so much white.

“Here I come, my Lady.”

***

Chat Blanc dropped down onto Marinette’s bed from her skylight carefully, so he wouldn’t wake her. He wanted to wake her, and planned to, but she was in such a deep sleep that he felt guilty being here.

Chat shouldn’t be in a girl’s room in the middle of the night. He shouldn’t be here at all.

But her siren call was too strong. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to wrap her up in an embrace and never let her go. He wanted to… wanted to…

Her hair was down and slightly damp, as if she’d taken a shower just before bed. He threaded his clawed fingers through the inky strands and bent down to sniff them. Chat inhaled the delicious scent of her shampoo, and his eyelids fluttered closed. 

Never did he think he’d be able to smell her again.

Chat Blanc placed his hands around her head and held himself above her, moving his face close to her neck to breathe her in. The sweet, earthy aromas of soil, chocolate, and lotion filled his senses, making him lightheaded. He catalogued her scent, nearly tasting it on his tongue. 

He was so close to her, he could feel the warmth of her skin on the exposed parts of his mask. The temptation to touch her was too great. He nuzzled her neck with his nose. She turned her head and moaned quietly, sending a thrill through him.

“Kitty,” she murmured. “Wake me when there’s an akuma.”

Chat Blanc laughed.

Marinette’s eyes shot open, whirling and darting around the room before focusing on him. She opened her mouth--presumably to scream--but Chat quickly covered it with a clawed hand.

“Hello, my Lady,” he whispered, frowning down at her. He knelt on the bed around her legs, pinning her down. “I need… Your miracu--no, no, sorry, bad habit.”

She stared at him, drawing quick, panicked breaths through her nose. Sweat beaded at her temples. She wriggled her arms out from under the pink blanket and shoved at his chest. Solid as a rock, he didn’t move. “Mmph!”

Chat swallowed, and tried again. “No, no, no, no, no, it’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you. I could never hurt you, my Lady, except the time I killed you once, but I’m not counting that. Please. I need your help.” He smiled crookedly down at her. “Will you scream if I uncover your mouth?”

Marinette shook her head. Chat lifted his hand, only for her to start to shriek. He sighed and slammed a hand over her mouth again. “I told you not to scream,” he said, huffing. He pressed a knee down onto her belly. “Now, let’s try this again. I need your mira-- _help_. Chat Blanc has… gotten into some mischief.”

Marinette narrowed her eyes at him, taking on the determined, calculating gaze he suddenly remembered was Ladybug’s. She seemed to want to help him, now, so he carefully removed his hand. Marinette drew a deep breath, filling her lungs. Chat watched the blanket expand where her chest was, and then flicked his eyes to her face again.

“You know my identity?” Marinette--Ladybug--Marinette said, her eyes filling with abject horror. 

“And you know mine,” Chat said. “In my timeline.”

From her resolved expression, Marinette seemed to absorb this information. “How can I help you, Kitty?” Marinette said, cupping his cheeks in her hand.

He jerked from her touch, surprised, and then deliriously grasped her hands and slammed them back on his face, holding them there. She stroked his cheekbones right under his mask with her thumbs, and he closed his eyes, purring.

Chat’s throat was still sore from his singing and his screaming match with his father, but now, as he gulped around the lump in his throat, his voice was thick for an entirely different reason. 

“I missed you,” he said, hating how broken and useless and _pitiful_ he sounded. “Oh, my Lady, I missed you so much.”

Tears flowed down his mask as he leaned into her hands, relishing the touch as if she’d never touched him before and never would again. 

"Chat Noir," Marinette said, her breath soft against his face. "What did you do?"

Much as he didn't want to, Chat Blanc pulled away. He opened his eyes and glared at her sad ones. “I’m not Chat Noir anymore. I’m Chat Blanc.”

“Chat Blanc, then,” Marinette said, shuddering as he traced a claw along the shell of her ear. He tapped her earring twice, and she stilled. She pulled her head away, pressing into her pillow, and he drew his hand away, but pressed his face even closer to hers. He was breathing in her breath, which tasted of coffee trying to be chased away by minty toothpaste. “Why do you need my help?”

Chat scoffed at himself. She’d asked him the question again, but he clearly didn’t want to answer. He didn’t regret killing Gabriel, not exactly, but the murder would make things very, very messy for the Adrien of this timeline. 

Chat Blanc just didn’t want to disappoint Marinette. Not again. 

He turned his head. Maybe not looking at her would help him bite the bullet. “I Cataclysmed the hell out of Gabriel Agreste.”

Marinette gasped. The sound was high-pitched in his feline ears. Not used to loud noises anymore, he flinched. Surely it was because of that and not her reproachful, “Why?”

“Look, that doesn’t matter,” Chat said, turning his eyes back to her. “You need to transform and fix it. And then we can fix everything else, and we can be in love again, and the world won’t end anymore.”

Marinette blinked at him. “We… were in love?”

Chat bit his lip and nodded. “Will you fix this, please? It’s very important to the Adrien of this timeline that Gabriel stay alive.”

Marinette nodded rapidly. “Oh, oh gosh, of course it would be. But why is that important to you?”

“Because,” Chat said, pursing his lips, “I don’t want him to end up like me. Plagg would never forgive him.”

Marinette’s breath escaped her in another little gasp. Her hands trembled as they hovered around his face. “A-Adrien?”

“No,” he snapped, flicking his bell again. “I’m Chat Blanc.”

Marinette nodded again, slower this time, and only twice. “Chat Blanc,” she said, her voice surprisingly even. “I can transform. And I can help you.” She snaked her hands between them and pressed upwards on his chest, giving him a shaky smile. “But you need to get off me first.”

Chat reluctantly rolled off her, sitting up. He folded his arms and drummed his fingers on his forearm. “Okay, let’s go. That weeb is probably up watching anime. At least Hawkmoth won’t interrupt him tonight.”

Marinette, in the middle of scooting out from under her covers, stilled. “Why won’t Hawkmoth throw an akuma tonight?”

“Because,” Chat said, impatient with her inability to put two and two together, “Gabriel Agreste is Hawkmoth.”

“Oh, my gosh!” Marinette said, covering her mouth. “He isn’t!”

“He is,” Chat said, shrugging. “And he has my mom in a coma in the basement.”

Marinette let loose a high-pitched whine, forcing Chat to cover his human ears. His feline ones flattened against his head. He loved the girl, but the noises she made in her distress ratcheted up the tension in his shoulders. The desire to protect her from pain warred with his desire to flee and protect his ears. 

Chat was so sensitive to sounds and scents that he wondered if he’d be sensitive to light as well. There was plenty of light reflecting off the water of the destroyed city from his timeline, but everything was quiet and smelled of fish and salt and sulfur.

He almost missed the silence.

Marinette climbed down the steps without another word. He followed. She called for her transformation, and Chat closed his eyes as the light flashed in his night vision, temporarily blinding him. He scrubbed at his eyes, hissing, until Marinette laid a hand on his shoulder. 

Instantly calmed by the touch, Chat stopped moving immediately. She gave his shoulder a firm squeeze, and he leaned into her hand.

Ladybug threw her yo-yo into the air in a position he knew well. The Ladybugs left her a stuffed Chat Blanc doll. He cackled.

“After you fix everything,” Chat said, fill of mirth, “I need to talk to Adrien.”

“I’m coming with you,” Ladybug said, and he tilted his head. “Let’s go.”

“Wait,” Chat said, holding up a finger. “We need one more thing.”

***

Running through the city with Ladybug brought memories rushing back to Chat’s brain. The smells of Paris were always lodged there, and as he vaulted across the streets and rooftops, Chat remembered everything there was to remember about the city he’d loved.

There, the bakery he’d liked to visit before he went to the Dupain-Chengs’ boulangerie for the first time. There, the florist whose young son had been akumatized and had drawn a picture for Chat when he was rescued. There, the Place de Vosges, where he and Marinette had shared their second, third, and fourth kisses.

And as always, he followed Ladybug’s lithe, graceful figure. He loved watching her rocket past the buildings, her arms and legs moving in concert as she swung herself from her yo-yo cable. Love made his heart pound. Love, and a not-so-small amount of lust.

The bag of pastries he’d insisted that Marientte pack him from the Dupain-Chengs’ bakery bounced against his thigh as he felt his muscles reawaken from the rooftop-hopping. This, _this_ was what being Chat was supposed to feel like. 

He never wanted to give it up.

Chat Blanc wasn’t surprised that the window to Adrien’s room was open. Chat had left his window open all the time, even at night, because he’d needed the promise of a quick route of escape at the time.

He was surprised to find that Adrien was curled up on his side in his bed, asleep. 

Chat was even more surprised to have Plagg confront him.

“Chat?” Plagg whispered as he flew off Adrien’s pillow and hovered near Chat Blanc’s face in the middle of the room. Ladybug, standing beside Chat, stiffened. Plagg’s glowing, green eyes were filled with tears, and Chat smelled grass and ozone. He’d never made his kwami cry before, and the thought twisted the knife in his heart. “Who hurt my kitten?”

Chat stood speechless, plastic bag of pastries dangling from his clawed fingers. He raised his other hand, his right, and cupped it in front of his chest. “Plagg,” he whispered back, not trusting himself to say much more, lest his feelings burst out of him in an uninhibited display of power.

Plagg landed on Chat’s palm, and the weight of the tiny kwami resting there made a sob claw its way out of Chat’s throat. He raised his other hand, mindful of the bag, and gently scratched his friend behind the ears.

Chat had missed Plagg. The boy had missed the acerbic, snarky commentary on everything Adrien had done. He missed the support Plagg would give him, the quiet bearing of Adrien’s burdens. Chat had even missed the way the kwami would gag at mushy stuff. 

Seeing his friend whole and healthy and _present_ , Chat found that his words stuck in his throat. What could he say that could tell Plagg how much Chat had longed to hold him again, just like this?

Adrien rolled over, interrupting the moment. Ladybug shifted on her feet awkwardly. 

“Who hurt you?” Plagg said again, the greenish tears spilling over his face. “Whom do I have to kill?”

Chat Blanc laughed quietly. “I’ve already killed him once today.” Hawkmoth hadn’t attempted to contact him since Ladybug had brought him back from the dead with her Miraculous Cure, but Chat could feel him lurking in the back of his head, the coward. “But you know who akumatized me, don’t you?”

Ladybug stepped forward. “Plagg, Hawkmoth is Gabriel Agreste.”

Plagg’s jaw dropped. After a moment, he snapped it shut. “And I can’t kill him again?”

“No,” Chat Blanc said mournfully. “It’d be bad for Adrien. And I don’t want him to end up like me.”

Despite their attempts not to wake him up, Adrien stirred in the bed. Chat immediately jumped on top of him, crouching on his chest. Ladybug cried out. Adrien let his air out in a whoosh, preventing him from screaming right away.

Chat Blanc dug into the bag of pastries and shoved a croissant in Adrien’s open mouth. “Eat up, nerd. You’re too skinny and need someone to look after you. Luckily for you, that’s me.” 

Ladybug ran to Chat and tugged on his arm. “Get off him! He can’t breathe!” 

Plagg joined in the tugging, and it was only because of the terrified look in the kwami’s eyes that Chat reluctantly stepped off Adrien.

Adrien sat up and coughed, taking the carb-ridden treat out of his mouth and rubbing his chest. “You’re… me?” he said, and then his eyes flew to Ladybug, wide and panicked. “Oh, no, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to give my identity away!”

“I already know, Adrien,” Ladybug said, her gaze soft and sad. “But we have to tell Master Fu.” 

“No!” Chat Blanc said, gritting his teeth. The plastic bag twisted in his fingers, and a white ball of power flooded his other hand. Ladybug planted herself firmly in between him and the boy in the bed, reaching for her yo-yo. “Adrien, you can’t lose Plagg. You’ll go nuts without him.” Chat let the Cataclysm fizzle out. “Please, Ladybug. Please.”

“I… don’t know how to fix this other than going to Master Fu,” she said, her eyes warily alighting on his right hand. 

Plagg landed on Adrien’s shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere. Don’t worry, Kitten… Kittens.”

Adrien set the pastry down. “And I--”

“Pick up the pastry, Adrien,” Chat Blanc said, incandescent rage building behind his breastbone. “You’re skinny. You need to eat.”

Ladybug blinked at Chat, looking between them. Adrien gulped and opened his mouth. “I’m not--”

“If you don’t eat the pastries, I might as well destroy them, the world, everything!” Chat said, bright, hot power filling his hand again. He raised it above his head, the Cataclysm swelling, filling the room.

“Okay! Okay!” Adrien screamed, holding his hands up and wind-milling them. “I’ll eat the pastries!”

Chat sucked the power back into himself. The Cataclysm winked out of existence. 

Chat was calm. Rational. Unperturbed. “Thank you,” he said, smiling a little. 

Ladybug sat down heavily on the bed. Chat guessed from her expression that she looked pale under the mask, not that he could tell from the greenish glow of his night vision. She held her stomach and leaned forward.

Adrien slowly picked up the pastry and took a bite. Chat hopped onto the bed, crouching at the end, plastic bag rustling. Ladybug leaned away from him, her eyes wide. 

Adrien chewed, and Chat chewed with him, his mouth making the motions despite not eating anything. He was pretending to eat a croissant, and watching Adrien eat made the fantasy so much better. Chat could smell the bread, the acidity of the yeast. He swallowed his ‘bite,’ and his mouth watered.

Ladybug was giving him an odd, sad kind of look. Chat didn’t care.

Adrien paused, croissant halfway to his mouth, and Chat glared at him. Shaking his head, Adrien tore the bready treat in half and offered some to Chat. “Do you want some?”

Chat’s breath caught in his throat. He raised a shaking hand to point at himself, and Adrien nodded. 

Chat swiped the day-old croissant half and stuffed the entire thing into his mouth. He moaned. The sensation of real food in his mouth was orgasmic. He’d forgotten what croissants tasted like, and the buttery, sweet treat was nothing short of amazing. The flaky texture practically melted in his mouth, and tears of joy poured down his cheeks. The feeling of real food sliding down his throat made him shiver in delight.

He tore into the bag, retrieving a cheese danish and devouring it. He didn’t stop until he’d chewed his way through half of the dozen pastries they’d brought, and then only because guilt for eating Adrien’s food made him feel sick.

Ladybug let loose the breath she’d apparently been holding in a cut-off, little groan. “Chat Blanc,” she said, leaning forward and placing a hand on his shaking one. “How long has it been since you’ve eaten anything?”

Chat tore his hand away from her grip and rubbed his sandy eyes with his clawed fingers, careful not to poke himself. “I don’t remember. After I destroyed the world, I… I was alone for a while. And all the food was underwater.”

Plagg launched himself from Adrien’s shoulder and embraced Chat’s cheek. “I’ll kill him!”

“Kill whom?” Adrien said, throwing his covers off and standing. His feet were bare, and Chat curled his lip. The boy needed socks. “Why do we need to kill someone?”

A purple mask snapped into place around Chat’s face. His laugh was soft and bitter. “Speak of the devil. Hello, Gabriel.”

Adrien slapped his hands over his mouth. Ladybug whirled to face him, her hands hovering anxiously around him.

Hawkmoth hesitated. When he spoke, his voice trembled. “I think we started off of the wrong foot.”

“You think?” Chat sneered, his fists clenching and shaking the pastry bag. This was the moment Chat had prepared for for months, maybe even years. He’d spent so many mornings telling ash statues his plans for them. Now he had Gabriel’s attention, and he wasn’t going to waste the opportunity.

“Listen to me,” Chat said, jabbing the air with a finger, “and listen well. You’re going to quit being Hawkmoth, effective immediately. You’re going to set up a charity for akumatized victims and throw as much money at it as you can. You’re going to hold a funeral for mom.” 

“Mom?” Adrien cried. Chat ignored him, intent on giving Hawkmoth the rest of his instructions.

“And you’re going to start paying attention to those of us who are living and breathing and wasting away in front of you!” Chat said, vibrating with raw emotion. “You’re going to let go of your past hurts and grieve like an adult! You’re going to be a father, like you used to be!” 

Hawkmoth’s baritone was smoother than it had any right to be. “And if I refuse?”

A deadly calm passed over Chat’s frantic mind. His breathing slowed, and his eyes dilated. “Then I’ll kill you.”

“Chat Blanc!” Ladybug said, holding a hand out. “Stop this now!” 

“I’ll kill you, and she’ll bring you back, and I’ll kill you again,” Chat said, his words dropping into the space between him and Hawkmoth like pebbles into a still pond. “I’ll kill you as many times as it takes for my demands to sink in. You can’t stand against me, _Dad_ , and you can’t run. I _will_ kill you, and it _will_ be painful.” 

Hawkmoth’s fear was a tangible thing, filling Chat’s mouth. It tasted like piss. “We have a deal.”

Chat smiled crookedly. “Good.”

Adrien fainted.

***

“I don’t see what the trouble is,” Plagg said, snarfing down a piece of camembert after Adrien had come to. The boy was being held by Ladybug, and Chat was trying to tamp down his desire to Cataclysm him out of jealousy. “Chat Blanc solved the Hawkmoth problem, and bonus, Adrien, you get a newly-devoted father out of it!” 

The mini-god cackled, hovering over to Chat. Plagg held a flipper for Chat to high-five him, and Chat indulged with a grin.

Ladybug looked like she was literally about to bite Plagg’s head off. “The _trouble_ is that he upended Adrien’s life, and now we don’t know what to do with him.”

“Rude,” Chat Blanc said, pretending to be interested in his claws rather than the possessive way Ladybug stroked Adrien’s hair. “I’m right here, you know. Don’t talk about me in the third person.”

Adrien gently disengaged from Ladybug’s grip. “I think... I think that he can stay with me. My father probably won’t try anything as long as he’s around, and we need to collect the Butterfly and Peacock miraculous as soon as possible.”

“But Adrien,” Ladybug said, biting her lip. “What do we do with him after that?”

“Still rude,” Chat said again, only to be ignored.

Adrien beamed at his Lady with a smile Chat recognized as genuine, as he’d worn expressions like that once upon a time. “Why can’t he stay with me? He could be my brother.”

Plagg cackled again.

Chat cocked his head. He longed to feed this child, to care for him, to be the family he’d always needed. Chat needed that family himself, but he knew how important connections were to Adrien. He could be an older brother to the younger, more naive him. They could play Ultimate Mecha Strike and share pastries and compete for the affections of Marinette--of which Chat Blanc would win.

Stay here, where it was warm and safe and there was plenty of food available? Stay where he was needed, wanted? Stay here, where he could be with his Lady? The idea sounded more and more appealing by the minute.

“No!” Ladybug said, and Chat felt broken glass where his heart was supposed to be. “He can’t stay here! He’s an akuma! He’s dangerous!” 

“Then cleanse him,” Adrien said, shrugging, as if it were the easiest thing in the world to purify a butterfly. 

Chat clutched at his bell. He’d been an akuma for so long, so many, many years, that he didn’t know if he could go back to normal. He wanted to. Oh, he wanted to, yearned for it more than anything in his life. 

But he would always be changed by the experience. He’d always hear voices, always eat like a starving boy, always be sensitive to noise and scent.

But… to have a chance to be normal again… to be Chat Noir and not Chat Blanc… “The akuma,” he said, lowering his hands to his sides, “is in my--”

“There you are!” Bunnyx screamed, her head sticking out of an open portal. She launched herself at Chat, slamming her umbrella into his face. Chat fell on his butt, growling. He jumped into a defensive stance, preparing to call the power of a Cataclysm to his hand-- 

“Bunnyx!” Ladybug said, wrapping her yo-yo around him, startling both him and Bunnyx out of the fight. “What are you doing?”

“Plagg, claws out!” Adrien said, letting the light of the transformation wash over him rather than going through the motions of it.

Chat stared at his counterpart. Was his suit always so… black? Was his hair that blond?

Chat Blanc started moving forward, trying to raise a hand to run his fingers through Chat Noir’s hair, but then realized his arms were pinned to his sides by the yo-yo cable. He struggled against his bonds, snarling.

He couldn’t call a mega-Cataclysm. He didn’t want to kill Ladybug again. He couldn’t. Not again.

Bunnyx had the audacity to boop him on the nose. Chat Blanc snapped his teeth at her, and she pulled her finger away just in time to not get bitten. “I’ve been looking for you _everywhen._ You have no idea how many timelines I’ve visited trying to track you down!”

Ladybug tugged on her yo-yo, tightening the cable. Chat Blanc gritted his teeth.

Chat Noir stepped forward. “What are you going to do with him, Bunnyx?”

“I’m going to put him back where and when he belongs,” Bunnyx said, and Chat Blanc’s breath hitched. 

“No,” he whispered, and then screamed. “No, you can’t! I won’t go back there!”

“Why can’t he stay with me?” Chat Noir said, putting a hand over his idealistic heart. “I could take care of him. We could take care of each other.”

Chat Blanc felt faint and sick. From the look in her eye, Bunnyx was taking him back no matter what anyone said. 

“Kitty,” Bunnyx said, her tone gentle, almost motherly. “I promise I won’t leave you there.”

Chat Blanc’s eyes prickled. His face felt hot, and his chest was unbearably tight. “Really?”

Bunnyx smiled at him. Then she winked. “Really, really. There’s a Ladybug in a timeline that’s supposed to fix everything for you. I’ll bring her to you, and she’ll fix it.”

Chat Blanc’s eyes trailed over the three of them. He looked at Ladybug’s determined glare, Chat Noir’s soft, pitying eyes, and Bunnyx’s maternal gaze. Chat Blanc spread his shoulders back, struggling against the cable again, and then relented. His shoulders sagged, and he hung his head. All the fight had gone out of him. 

“Okay,” he said, tears dropping from his eyes onto his white boots. “Okay. I’ll go back.” He snapped his head up, growling at Bunnyx. “But you can’t leave me there for long.”

“Of course not,” Bunnyx said, cheerful again. “Ladybug, if you will.”

Ladybug tugged on her yo-yo, and the cable retracted. Chat Blanc found he still couldn’t breathe.

“For what it’s worth,” Chat Noir said, throwing his arms around Chat Blanc, “you would have made an awesome brother.”

Chat Blanc wanted to respond, wanted to hug Adrien back, but the boy released him before he could. Ladybug stepped up to him next, and cupped his cheek. “I can argue with your methods all day,” she said, her eyes welling with tears, “but thank you, for what you’ve done for us.”

He stepped back and took her hand in his, brushing his lips over her knuckles. “My Lady. Take care of him.”

She flushed prettily, and stepped back, clutching Chat Noir’s elbow.

“Aww,” Bunnyx said, giggling. “No kiss for me?”

Chat Blanc shot her a glare, and stepped through the portal.

She brought him through the maze of times to the one he’d left, and opened it for him. “Take care, Kitty.”

Chat grasped her wrist. “You promise?”

“I promise.”

He stepped through. The silence struck him just hard as the smell of water did. He crossed over to his usual seat on the edge of the Tower, and sat down. 

“Little kitty on a roof,” Chat sang, dangling his feet into the water, “all alone without his Lady…”

**Author's Note:**

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> 
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